JA_ACS Redacted.pdf

This document is a Justification and Approval (J&A) for a sole source contract with the American Chemical Society (ACS) issued by the Department of the Navy's Naval Research Laboratory (NRL). The contract will provide NRL researchers access to licensed scientific journal content through an ACS subscription package for 5 years (Base + 4 Option years), with each 12-month period fully funded. The purpose is to access scientific information content on the ACS platform, which helps scientific community members register, validate, edit, disseminate, preserve, and maximize the discoverability of their research.

A Sources Sought Notice was posted on SAM.gov for 15 days, and no alternative vendors responded. NRL asserts that only ACS can provide the required intellectual property rights and content, as they hold the copyright to the information, media, and platform. The contract will be a Firm Fixed Price using Simplified Acquisition Procedure, with the total subscription cost estimated for a 5-year period. The Naval Research Laboratory Contracting Division is the procurement entity, and the statutory authority for this sole source acquisition is 41 U.S.C. 1901(e)(2).